14 DAY TRIAL // The enemy of my enemy is my friend seems to be the common thinking at Google and Adobe. An interesting rumor has popped up recently saying that the two companies are about to announce, later today, a deeper partnership and perhaps a deeper integration of Flash with Google Chrome, though what exactly that implies is anyone's guess.
This would be rather peculiar, as Google has been a very strong supporter of the open HTML5 standard, which positions itself as a competitor to Adobe's Flash platform on many levels. However, there may be one good reason behind this, both companies are increasingly at odds with Apple, which seems to have been going from strength to strength lately and is bent on getting everyone doing things its way.
The rumor says that Google will announce today that, by means of a stronger partnership with Adobe, it will bundle the Flash Player with Chrome or, more likely with Chrome OS. Chrome, the web browser, already works with Flash, so it's not clear how this would be different. A much more plausible theory is that the search giant will announce that its upcoming netbook operating system, Chome OS, will come with Flash pre-installed. This would be in clear contrast with Apple, which doesn't support Flash on the iPhone or the soon-to-be-launched iPad.
In fact Apple has been particularly driven against Adobe's rich content platform saying it is buggy and slows down its devices. The lack of Flash support in Safari for iPhone has been a sore-spot for Apple since it launched its first smartphone almost three years ago, but the company doesn't plan on changing that. What's more, the hyped iPad, due this Saturday, which runs on the iPhone OS, won't support Flash either. Instead, Apple is urging developers and content creators to switch to HTML5.
Yet, Google, which has been pushing HTML5 since its inception, seems to be moving in the exactly opposite way with the new partnership, which is likely part of Adobe's Open Screen Project. But, while many will see this as Google and Adobe banding together against Apple, which is certainly true, to a certain extent, the fact is, Flash support on Chrome OS was a given. Google Android has Flash and there was no reason why Chrome OS would be any different. The rumored announcement, if it does indeed relate to Flash on Chrome OS, will be given all sorts of meanings, but it's just a run-of-the-mill one.